This is great. I have the Roland R-26 which I like, but always wish I had one or two more inputs. Also nice to not have to deal with the extra bulk of the onboard mics if you don't need them. If the preamps on this are good (like Vitaly is hoping as well), this will be the ideal solution for me. Hopefully lower noise than the H4n which I had but wasn't very happy with.

Shotgun - Zoom have the MS microphone technology which made AKG's superb stereo shotguns. I wonder if the shotgun will be MS stereo? Indeed, I would bet a beer on it, as there are two stereo channels available, after all... (the leftmost pair of level bars).

Looks interesting. If the specs above are accurate, the "20 hours of operation with 4 AA batteries" (phantom power disabled, I presume) is much longer than the Tascam DR-60. That could be a decisive factor for many people.

Zoom H2n makes it up to some 17 hrs with 2 batteries, what is huge improvment compared to the first H2 model.

Zoom H4n makes it with only two AA batteries and phantom power on (with 2 mics) some 4-5 hrs. In stamina mode, it could record much longer- but I didn't use it at all for 44.1 kHz isn't my preference (not sure if stamina even supports phantom)

I don't expect H6 to extend battery life in the same scale like the H2n compared to H2 did, but with its 4 batteries it will have much higher power capacity, so I guess following max batt life times:
- 3 hrs with 6 mics and phantom on
- 5 hrs with 4 mics and phantom on
- 11 hrs with 2 mics and phantom on
- additional jack input won't make big difference for max rec time which will easily extend 20 hrs without using phantom power

@Mr_Moore the new H6 will ceirtanly not use 4 instead of 2 batteries to double voltage inside the device, but to increase battery life times- but using 4-6 phantom powered XLR inputs will drain lots of the juice. Yet, even 3 hrs with 6 phantom powered XLRs would be just great!

I'm really interested in the Zoom H6, if the preamps are usable. However, 2 clean preamps with phantom power are more important for me than 6 noisy ones. As the Zoom website doesn't state phantom power, I'm wondering if the H6 won't offer it.

"However, 2 clean preamps with phantom power are more important for me than 6 noisy ones." Absolutely!
I think at this moment of other possibilities out there, that is the key for its success or not. But the modular idea is super cool! Finally! ;)